Daily Dime: Bryce Harper, Shane Greene, various O's and Mets
Below, you'll find ten strong plays for the Tuesday slate. Be sure to give the Jays, Fish, O's and M's plenty of attention, if you're stacking. Also, as always, please check the weather reports and hawk the lineups before finalizing your selections. Now let's do the do...
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Bryce Harper, OF, at Bos (Masterson), $4100 at FanDuel: Justin Masterson's history of struggles against left-handed hitters is of course well-known and thoroughly documented. LHBs have slashed .287/.366/.426 against him in his career, and .320/.408/.502 last season. So yeah, I'm betting on Bryce today.
Everth Cabrera, SS, vs. NYY (Sabathia), $2400: Even in his best seasons, Sabathia often struggled early in April. I'm thinking the O's can do some damage against the 2015 version of CC. Cabrera is a perfect 4-for-4 against Sabathia in his career, for what it's worth (not much). True, Everth is a bottom-of-the-order hitter, but that's somewhat less terrifying in the A.L. If you find yourself in need of a true bargain bin starter, give him a look.
Steve Pearce, 1B, vs. NYY (Sabathia), $3900: Did I mention that Sabathia averaged 88.4 mph on his fastball in his first start? Well, he did. Pearce can do bad things to 88 mph fastballs, I'm thinking.
Michael Cuddyer, OF, vs. Phi (Buchanan), $3000: Phillies starter David Buchanan is a pitch-to-contact right-hander who was rocked last week (3.0 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 4 BB. He's a reverse-split guy, too. RHBs have hit .301/.346/.491 against Buchanan to this point in his career. I'm deploying multiple Mets against him.
Shane Greene, SP, at Pit (Burnett), $7900: Generally speaking, I'll start only aces in daily, looking for my bargains among the bats. But I'm particularly bullish on Greene after his impressive season debut (8.0 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 5 Ks, 85 pitches). Detroit's lineup should offer respectable run support facing A.J. Burnett, and it's nice to get Greene against a National League opponent.
Jose Reyes, SS, vs. TB (Andriese), $3900: This could be any Jays starter, really. Toronto's lineup is open for business on Tuesday, with meh right-hander Matt Andriese on the hill for the Rays. I like the brand-name Blue Jays, and I like the prices on guys like Pillar ($2700) and Travis ($2500) as well.
Mike Zunino, C, at LAD (Huff), $2500: David Huff is getting a spot-start for the Dodgers, so I'm gonna go ahead and roll out a few Mariners. Honestly, I'm not sure I'd actually drill down deep enough to reach Zunino, but I rarely buy a luxury catcher in these games. Also, this certainly feels like a game where Zunino could leave the yard. He's been much better against lefties than righties in his brief career (but lousy against almost everyone). Anyway, the real point is this: Seattle hitters are in play today.
Christian Yelich, OF, at Atl (Cahill), $3600: Trevor Cahill shouldn't scare anyone away from the Marlins on Tuesday. Left-handed hitters slashed a ridiculous .346/.411/.519 against Cahill last season, so I don't feel bad doubling-down on Fish in this one. Gimme Yelich and gimme this guy...
[UPDATE: Welp, Yelich was scratched due to a back malfunction of unknown severity. Take evasive action, you guys. Ichiro draws the start in place of Yelich. He's dirt cheap. Also, Cleveland's Jerry Sands is only $2200 at FanDuel, and he's batting fifth. It's the outfield; you've got options.]
Dee Gordon, 2B, at Atl (Cahill), $4000: Yeah, sure, Dee is a bit pricey. But he's 6-for-15 with three walks and just one K in his career against Cahill. He's also red-hot at the moment (.345/.387/.483, 4 SB). It's tough for me to imagine Atlanta keeping him off-base in this one.
Ender Inciarte, OF, at SD (Despaigne), $2800: Here's a low-dollar outfield flier, for those who've blown the budget elsewhere. No need to fear the matchup, certainly. Inciarte has three mutli-hit games in his last four, and he'll be facing a right-hander who gives up plenty of contact.
